A Stronger North
by pkmnmstr9412
Summary: A story about what could have happened if Brandon the Builder died, and someone else was entrusted with his dream. The result is a better north, a stronger north. And a North will rise that will withstand even the Dragon's wings, but can it survive the Game of Thrones? A Viking based ruling family, but more honorable than the Iron Islands. Now up for Adoption. PM me if interested
1. Prologue

Prologue

**8000 BAC** (Before Aegon's Conquest)

The Long Night didn't end without a last gasp from the Night King. Just days after the Wall was finished, the Night King launched one last attack, and managed to wound Brandon the Builder. Before Brandon finally died, he called his only bannerman that stayed at the wall with him. This bannerman was the last remaining member of his family and had been exiled from the Iron Islands by house Greyiron; he fled to the north and had pledged his loyalty to Brandon the Builder when he heard of the Long Night. As he lay dying, he told his bannerman that he was entrusting him with his vision for the North, to carry on the legacy of the Starks, and unify the North. This man was young, he had no family to support him, and no lands to build up, so he did the only thing he could, he traveled north of the wall and sought out the wildlings.

He approached them tribe by tribe, gathering the smaller clans to his cause, until he came upon the Thenns. He met Sigmar, the leader of the clan, and told him of his plan to bring them south of the wall with him, and gather them into a force that could unify the north, so that they would be ready when the White Walkers returned. This was met with derision by Sigmar who still believed that the Night King was dead, until the man told him about the death of Brandon the Builder and his final order. The man told Sigmar that even though the Others had retreated, they were not gone, and one day they would return; and any clans that remained north of the wall would only be killed, and their bodies added to his army. Sigmar was impressed with the man's vision, but was not going to just kneel to this man, and so he challenged him to a wrestling match. As soon as the match started, Sigmar charged the man wildly, trying to catch him in a bear hug. But, the man was too fast, he easily sidestepped Sigmar and tripped him as he went past. Instead of waiting for Sigmar to get up, he immediately pounced on him, and actually managed to pick him up, and throw him into a nearby tree. Before Sigmar could regain his bearings, he was immediately kicked in the head, and knocked unconscious. As Sigmar woke up, he saw the man standing above him, and so he slowly stood up, and looked the man dead in the eye, then slowly, he took a knee, and bowed his head. This trend continued as the man travelled across the True North, gathering the clans to him, and even convinced the various clans of giants to join him with their mammoths; finally, he had close to 20,000 people following him, and he started to make his way to the Bay of Ice. Because the wall was still very new, the very ends had not been manned yet, and so he was able to gather his followers where the Milkwater ran into the Bay, without having to deal with the Night's Watch.

As he was standing on the beach, trying to decide how to get his people across the bay to Bear Island, he heard the sounds of people coming up behind him. He turned around to see who it was, and immediately dropped to his knees when he saw three Children of the Forest in front of him. The leader of the Children placed his hand on his head and told him to rise. "The Gods have seen your plan for the north, and approve of what you are doing for their people," said the leader of the Children. "They have sent me to inform you that they will provide ships for you and your people, but on two conditions. First, you will not travel to Bear Island, but instead you will go straight to Sea Dragon Point, and there the Warg King will bow to you. Then you will gather the Lords of the mountains and the trees, and you will take the land of Winterfell for your own, away from House Bolton who has seized it. The second condition, is that you will take myself and several hundred of the Children with you to set up a village for ourselves in the Wolfswood, and one of us will remain with you as chief advisor for as long as your family rules." As the man processed what he was told, his thoughts were interrupted as the leader of the Children spoke again; "As your family is not originally from the North, there may be families that would not follow you, however, the sister of Brandon Stark is still alive and hiding in the Wolfswood, you will marry her, and your children will be the ones to finally unite the North."

It took the man a minute to finish processing the information dump that he had just received, finally he said the only thing he could, "I accept." "Very good, you will be met at the shore tomorrow by the Children going with you, they will be led by a Child named Ash, and there you will also receive your ships." After saying this, the children of the forest went into the trees, and vanished. The man immediately went back to the camp, and told the former clan leaders of what had just happened. The following morning, the man and his advisors walked to the shoreline, and saw a Child of the Forest waiting there. The man walked up to him and said, "greetings, I assume you are Ash. Where are the rest of your kin?" The Child smiled and said, "I am Ash, yes. As for my kin, look over there." As he said this, he lifted his arm, and pointed out to sea, and out of the fog came a fleet of white ships. Ash smiled at the dumbfounded look on the men's faces, and said "These will be the ships through which you will begin your legacy. It's time to get to work, Leif Ravynwolf."


	2. AN and Apology

**Update**

I have recently started to work on gaining my teaching certification, and on top of this, some other personal issues are rearing their heads, and I realized that I don't have the time or the inclination to really put in the time to work on this. Therefore, it is open for anyone who wants to take it over. Plus, I'm just not that good of a writer, and I look forward to seeing someone do it much better than I ever could.


End file.
